A Lonely Storm
by ACE CT
Summary: A short oneshot on naruto leaving to train with Jiraiya.


The winds always seem to force their traumatizing daggers deep withing the fleeting blood of the lonely. Just as the rain pretends to be, not droplets of water, but silvering bullets aimed straight for said man's heart. Dark clouds always join the fun by covering up the light, adding physical reference to an emotional..._thought _at best.

How do I know? Because on this bright and glowing day, naive children play, blind parents paint the off white walls of their fake reality step by condescending step, and I'm lost somewhere in the gapping middle; I'm in the eye of my own feverish and unforgiving hurricane. In fact I wouldn't even go as far as to call this a _day._ For me it is not a day; days are filled with at least the slightest bit of light and productive activities and perhaps even _fun_. But this is more like tunnel...one that's caved in...for there is no happy light that greets my worn, longing eyes, nothing productive enough to even attempt to masquerade a value, and trust me...

There is no fun to be had.

"Naruto," the tired, sad voice of a weary, elderly woman beckoned to him,"Jiraiya is waiting at the front desk. Are you sure about this?" Tsunade had a tint of fear, a dose of sorrow, and a helping of loss in her life. She usually plays the puppeteer of her true emotions..swaying and playing them to allow just what is necessary to greet the audience acceptingly. But at this moment the master's strings had been prematurely severed, and the puppets danced to a song unknown to our ears, but only to hers.

"You worry too much you old lady!" Naruto flashed his, by now trademark, idiotic grin and followed it with an energetic and, hopefully, reassuring thumbs up. He was a fantastic Broadway actor portraying his character exactly how he saw fit.

"We'll be lucky if you don't trip and kill yourself at the gate." Tsunade stressfully sighed clonking the back of his golden head.

Naruto just grinned, eyes shut, like he was putting up the blinds of a window. His laugh was the drug that kept people fooled, and so he let it roll down the canals of Tsunade's ears. She stood and left, inwardly disambiguating the blond to the following: immature, foolish, and _strong, _and_ kind._

* * *

"Come on ladies! I didn't mean it like that!"

Two of Konoha's finest nurses, both physically and medically, strutted with their noses in the air away from the shouting pervert with a mane of silver hair.

"Perverted Hermit stop being so perverted!" Naruto stared up at his aging, wise master, fists punching some unknown enemy that existed in the air. The toad sage clamped his wise palm onto the fiery glow of his students head and applied pressure as needed.

"Ah you're finally awake are you?" Jiraiya scrutinized his pupil from head to toe searching for only what the gods can know.

"No, you're hallucinating from being slapped too many times! Of course I'm awake!"

"I don't know they seem like they could both be right." The hermit placed his battle worn fingers on his elegant chin in a sort of posture that could leave one to believe he was thinking one-hundred percen on the subject at hand.

_Damn, _ Naruto thought, _I can't tell if he's actually thinking or if he's just trying to piss me off..._

"You ready to go, Naruto?" The elders face grew a solemn weed over his slate of a face. The seriousness of the situation had become known to even the blind eye of the occasional spectator.

"Yeah..."

"You know it won't be easy. If you're going to get strong enough to get Sasuke back it WILL be a lot of work. Are you sure you're willing to do this?"

"Yeah." Naruto look straight into Jiraiya; a storm reached his blue oceanic eyes and the knowledgeable black of Jiraiya's concluded this all too well."I'll do whatever it takes."

"Then let's go,"The toad master glanced at his young pupil with pride before finishing his sentence."Naruto."

The two left village of leaves, to find the means to grab the sun from the eye of the hurricane. And this time, the fire wouldn't burn quite so hot, and the lightning, would not strike the flesh as hard.


End file.
